Sustained by his fellows

Well...It's the first day of school.  The kids are coming.  More time would be useful, but alas, "Time waits for no School District" (or something along those lines).

Hurricane Harvey didn't have much impact 200 miles inland.  Although, I did hear a person in line at the Grocery Store (They rationed Tortillas, two packs per family.  That was all I saw that was limited.  Really?  Tortillas?  That's some prepper food right there!).

Lost my train of thought....Oh yeah, I heard a person in line at the Grocery Store mentioned her concern for the Storm Surge and how much damage in might cause in town.  I asked her if she meant our town.

"Yep!  We need to be watchful for it."

"You do realize that the elevation here is 1760'?

"So?"

"If the storm surge reaches here, we're probably in deeper Kimchi than we'll be able to handle."

Some people's children.  Or to quote a George Carlin line, "The '60s sure were good for you weren't they?"

In any case, we got a couple of inches of rain spread out over 24 hours, so got absorbed by the soil real well.  Winds were gusting 20-30K.  All in all, not so bad.  Corpus, Houston and Rockport got hit pretty hard though.

But, it's been a long couple of months and the next few weeks will still be "eventful". I'm tired, so, I'm going with an old standby.

As I've worked my way through this list, I've noticed a few trends.  Vietnam Recipients were primarily Fighter Pilots, with a couple of FACs, some Enlisted Aircrew and a couple of Heavy Drivers.  WWII were primarily B-17 and B-24 crewmembers with a few Fighter Pilot recipients also.  

Which if you've studied the Air Force's roles in those conflicts, make perfect sense.  But there were some unique situations also.  3 were awarded for actions in Ground Combat (Chair Force? Ground Combat?)  A1C Pitsenbarger and CMSGT Etchberger in Vietnam and Maj Hamilton in WWII.

I've discovered another unique case.  Captain Darrell R. Lindsey received the Medal in WWII.  He was the only B-26 pilot to receive the award.  The fact that his name is on the monument pictured above is grounds enough to tell his story.  The facts of the mission justify the award.

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Captain Lindsey enlisted in the Army Air Corps a little over a month after Pearl Harbor.  Initially he was trained as a bombardier, but (details are a little hazy) apparently got reassigned and trained as a pilot in the B-26 Marauder.  

Probably as a result of that retraining, he arrived in England in Early 1944 as a Captain and Flight Commander and immediately started flying missions preparing the battlefield for the Normandy Invasion.  The Marauder was not intended to fly missions deep into Germany, but was designed to be fast and carry a decent load.  As such was well suited for interdiction of Rail, and Road transportation networks.

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Over the course of the next 5 months, Captain Lindsey flew 45 missions and gained a reputation as a superb pilot and leader.  On August 9th, he was selected to lead a mission to destroy one of the few remaining railroad bridges that could resupply the Germans defending against the Allies in Northwest France.

The target is in the top center,  The gray mass at the bottom is Paris.

The target was a small town named L'Isle Adam, and although the Luftwaffe was pretty well eliminated as a threat in the air, their AAA (Hiss!) was still plentiful and well provisioned.

As the formation is beginning its attack, Captain Lindsey's plane is hit by AAA with minor damage and he continues the attack.  Approaching the release point, the Marauder is hit in the right engine, which catches fire, and the explosion throws them out of formation.  

Captain Lindsey is able to recover the aircraft, rejoin the formation as lead and continue the attack.  His right wing is engulfed in flames.  After dropping their weapons, and maneuvering clear of the target, he directs his crew to bail out, holding the plane straight and level for them to do so.  

Mission Photographs
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The last person to leave is the bombardier who offers to drop the landing gear before he jumps so that Captain Lindsey will have a place to leave the aircraft.  At this point, the right wing (which is full of highly combustible AvGas) is almost completely engulfed in flames.

Captain Lindsey declines the offer saying that he believes that would cause a loss of control and orders the Bombardier to bail out.  Which he does.

Immediately thereafter, the right wing explodes and the Marauder enters a steep dive and crashes.  Captain Lindsey did not make it out.

I thought this poignant.  The after action report for the mission.
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While at SAMS at Ft Leavenworth (affectionately widely known as the "Book a Day" Club), one of the required readings was S.L.A. Marshall's "Men against Fire". An interesting book with some unexpected (at the time) observations of people in combat.  

“I hold it to be of the simplest truths of war that the thing which enables an infantry soldier to keep going with his weapons is the near presence or the presumed presence of a comrade…He is sustained by his fellows primarily and by his weapons secondarily.”  

I found that quote here, and it's not exactly clear that it came from Marshall or one of the other authors quoted (wouldn't want to get crossways with the copyright Nazi's now would we?).

However, it does make the point.  People in Combat are willing to go to extraordinary lengths, beyond what mere mortals should be expected to, to preserve their comrades.  Not for their country specifically, not for the flag, not for the Medal.  To save their comrades.

That....To me. Is Honor!

Rest in Peace, Warrior!

Captain Lindsey's Citation:

"On 9 August 1944, Capt. Lindsey led a formation of 30 B-26 medium bombers in a hazardous mission to destroy the strategic enemy held L'lsle Adam railroad bridge over the Seine in occupied France. With most of the bridges over the Seine destroyed, the heavily fortified L'Isle Adam bridge was of inestimable value to the enemy in moving troops, supplies, and equipment to Paris. Capt. Lindsey was fully aware of the fierce resistance that would be encountered. Shortly after reaching enemy territory the formation was buffeted with heavy and accurate antiaircraft fire. By skillful evasive action, Capt. Lindsey was able to elude much of the enemy flak, but just before entering the bombing run his B-26 was peppered with holes. During the bombing run the enemy fire was even more intense, and Capt. Lindsey's right engine received a direct hit and burst into flames. Despite the fact that his ship was hurled out of formation by the violence of the concussion, Capt. Lindsey brilliantly maneuvered back into the lead position without disrupting the flight. Fully aware that the gasoline tanks might explode at any moment, Capt. Lindsey gallantly elected to continue the perilous bombing run. With fire streaming from his right engine and his right wing half enveloped in flames, he led his formation over the target upon which the bombs were dropped with telling effect. Immediately after the objective was attacked, Capt. Lindsey gave the order for the crew to parachute from the doomed aircraft. With magnificent coolness and superb pilotage, and without regard for his own life, he held the swiftly descending airplane in a steady glide until the members of the crew could jump to safety. With the right wing completely enveloped in flames and an explosion of the gasoline tank imminent, Capt. Lindsey still remained unperturbed. The last man to leave the stricken plane was the bombardier, who offered to lower the wheels so that Capt. Lindsey might escape from the nose. Realizing that this might throw the aircraft into an uncontrollable spin and jeopardize the bombardier's chances to escape, Capt. Lindsey refused the offer. Immediately after the bombardier had bailed out, and before Capt. Lindsey was able to follow, the right gasoline tank exploded. The aircraft sheathed in fire, went into a steep dive and was seen to explode as it crashed. All who are living today from this plane owe their lives to the fact that Capt. Lindsey remained cool and showed supreme courage in this emergency."

If any of you that have been stationed in Germany and are familiar with this Air Force Station near Wiesbaden, yes, it was named after Captain Lindsey.

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